Strictly Kosher: Life in a Jewish Community | Our Life

[Music] you've seen nothing yet I promise you Happy New Year what we're doing is we're bringing in the Jewish New Year we've all been to the synagogue we've all thrown away our sins and now we're gonna wait no it's not that's the wrong one should we start that one again where'd you begin there's 40 000 Jews in Manchester I don't know how I'd sum it up because every one of us are different Jewish people seem to have quite a lot of sex because religious Jewish people don't have televisions so they've got to keep warm at night do you have a sheet with a hole in it no normally the happy moments are having children the mitzvah's circumcisions weddings [Applause] how cute is that married [Music] Jewish weddings is depends on the pocket and was born Jewish and will always be Jewish I'll bring my children up Jewish do I want to be religious no I don't want to be religious open a religious household it's my way of love I don't know any different with a life focused on family and festivals Manchester's Jewish Community is a kaleidoscope of tradition religion and extravagance and not all of it strictly kosher [Music] there are over a quarter of a million Jews in Britain after London the second largest community live in Manchester with a population of forty thousand it's the fastest growing Jewish community in Europe in this Cosmopolitan Community Live Jewish people of all levels of faith they differ vastly in devotion but most share a common sense of pride in being Jewish how do you feel about lace you've probably done it first time around yes yes 90 of the people we serve in the shop are On My Level good Jewish girl not not and then you step up a few levels you get the more religious I class myself as other orthodox [Music] in everything the house food cooking clothes a lot and then you get the very religious and the fanaticals if you can use that word if that's what they want to do Live and Let Live I'm quite happy with that [Music] the grandparents are mainly from wishing a Lithuanian came from the little shackles I mean my mum was from Ireland and I love it because people go oh Irish stew how can you have someone that's Irish and Jewish this is my lounge and this is my gorgeous daughter and my son-in-law who got married in November 2008 they've got two little boys at the moment and they live in Israel in hanoff and I don't get to see them that often this is a picture of my three gorgeous kids and Saul who's 21 Leanne who you've seen and Gabby who's 16. so 21 cute gorgeous it's what we're like here come on have a pickle pickle [Music] and I'm not a religious person I'm more a traditionalist and I'm happy doing my little knots which is probably not very much there's a drawbridge up monomie's been here for over 20 years I'm not giving away my age because I still feel 25. now this is for you full of figure yeah um not everyone I want cut off but you've got to yeah to think summer that's a beauty there's quite a lot of girls who come in here for bar mitzvah's weddings big occasion it needs to just hitch that up it needs to be a lot shorter yeah a lot shorter and to be honest with you some people money is no object [Music] hi everybody Sandra has a wardrobe bigger than this room have I ever seen you in the same thing twice I don't know we have a very big Jewish clientele around here so being Jewish they actually trust me how are you with Reds no not good I like a bit of zazpanang I like a bit it's something different and that's what I'm known for this girl can give Imelda Marcos I've got a problem with shoes yes in fact it's so bad now don't look at these are like these are like Miss Whiplash boots are then I think Jewish people are like every other community they like to party they'll like to dress to impress I like to spend money on clothes which the more they spend the happier I become [Music] the family is at the heart of Jewish life Burnett is marking the arrival of a baby boy with one of the best known of Jewish Customs it's called a briss that's anesthetic that means it doesn't so it doesn't hurt the baby physical thing is a circumcision which itself is quite a minor procedure but spiritually and religiously and culturally it's massive a ceremony which really seals the Jewish people with God it's mainly for the men the women poor women don't really get involved other than the people that are involved with it the actual thing is a joyous moment I always like to stand at the front I don't mind the sigh of bloody noise every Jewish boy has one he can't get married you're not classes being Jewish you can't be given a name unless you've had a breath otherwise he caught the foreskin oh I don't know makes me feel sick but anyway I've decided it's the only pain a man goes through in Jewish life [Music] even the most non-religious of Jews who observe no other part of Judaism almost always eight days old a baby doesn't really feel anything and if you ask me do I remember mine no I don't remember mine [Music] when I had my first absolutely hysterical but by the second he knew that once you heard the scream and that's it you've got a nice Jewish little baby boy Aaron schmoole cute name thank you thank you little schmooley was named after his great-grandfather a holocaust Survivor for many Jews the past is another country Jack Eisenberg was born in Poland in 1928. we're from all over Europe the Baltic sings Russia Lithuanian and that's most of the Jews it costed me a lot to be a Jew yeah it's I've got pictures of my father and my mother they made my father was called Isaac in my mother it was called Debbie this is the flag an original from a Hitler use which a British soldier took a wish in the Army after the war and when I was in the hospital he brought it to me said you have it and you know when you saw this flag 70 years ago you trembled you trembled this was my number I hadn't got a tattoo but that was my number on the slave laborers uniform you 18th of January 1945. I shall never forget you we had to sing this because you are my fate and how wonderful freedom is that's Amina Singh he won't take a picture of the bathrooms [Applause] it's a little bit better than Buchan world listen my father wasn't rich I had money what happened at the age of 50 to drag them into a ghost human yeah with my mother and my breath I went into hiding otherwise I wouldn't be here if I went with them next day I would have been gone yeah but I must say God was good to me I have no argument with God I'm not asking him why was I in the camps he made it up to me he did I can tell him from Mount Sinai to Salford the Taurus scroll is at the very heart of Judaism it contains the early history of the Jews from the creation of the world to the death of Moses this is a very very special morning today for the Brody family they are finishing Writing Cafe tour a fabulous event to be able to do it is a real main event but that's a lot of Jewish religion things [Music] today is a rare treat a handful of men have the privilege of writing the last few Hebrew letters to finish off the scroll most of the out the middle of that aleph has been filled into you've got a bit you've got three boxes well if they make a mistake we've crossed that bridge when we come to it sometimes I have to make repairs it can take a year for a scribe to write a scroll Anthony Brody was lucky he won this one with a hundred pound raffle ticket that's it you've done you're done 100 pounds that's all good value considering a safe return actually costs probably about 23 000 pounds I would love to be able to do one in the honor of my parents but it's just the Torah is used for readings during services on sabbaths and religious festivals this one will have a home in a newly built synagogue one thing about being Jewish which I do like is very communal and I think that's very very important [Applause] the O2 Alpha dots tend to live in the Salford area brought in part but the whole of North Manchester is quite a religious community [Applause] if you're religious you'll stick together where there's a short and there's a community it's sense of security I think the Torah lays down Jewish laws to live by the rules of keeping a kosher home even State what Burnett should and shouldn't eat hi definitely we can't eat pig you definitely can't eat gelatin we definitely can't eat non-kosher meat at all kosher you want to eat kosher eat kosher some of the people religious will not mix with people unable who doesn't need to be honest yeah whether you're kosher or not everything stops here on Friday afternoon for the Sabbath the Jewish holy day on a Saturday we call it a Shabbos that's our day of rest and we do absolutely nothing as regards to work so all the preparations are done on the Friday Jewish law means we're not allowed to film on the Sabbath so Burnett is cooking her typical Friday night meal on a Thursday I've made the fish I've made the soup I've made the chicken I've made the meat I've made the cookies I've made the desserts I've made the lot there's the Torah law you should keep six days you shall work and on the seventh you shall rest yum you just checked my suit Jewish penicillin certain total laws that have been laid down what you're not allowed to do not permissible to flicker like to lie to light make it strike and match nothing so you can't watch television you can't put anything electrical on not allowed to tear on shabby so I can normally cut it ready in advance I don't have any toilet paper that's on a roll then they've just got loose tissue so we don't have to care we're not allowed to dare my shop is kettle don't boil a kettle at all we don't switch on or off it's on we're not allowed to use any hot water like that so what I have to do is wait till after sharpness to wash up so all my dishes are all stacked the top on the side that annoys me actually don't forget to put the kettle on and we have no hot water then we have to bring in a non-jewish person into the house who doesn't have a clue what I'm talking about because we're not allowed to ask them to put the water on and you've got to say well I can't and make myself one but I'd really like one and they could go through this for two hours before the cotton armor you can't switch the dance which on I don't do that then we can't have any food because the light will go on and off on the fridge [Music] I work and then have to come home and have to do all my cleaning and cooking and sharpen some baking and everything Michael comes in oh nice I love it the kids come in I love it you know they've done nothing and I'm like ready to have a you know heart attack here another word most of our meals around family which is what a lot of people admire about Jewish people we sit around the table are you sure you've had dinner absolutely very nice oh okay I mean it's part of the Ten Commandments keep the Shabbos day and make it holy uh so it's up there with uh killing and adultery the meal always tastes nicer to the to the Jewish food is chicken soup in Canada people say oh it's the restrictions and this and that but if you take it on board as part of your life then you're supposed to enjoy it I mean I think you do that have pets husband who who said are you a ham packed husband and he says I don't know I'll have to ask my wife [Laughter] [Music] not everyone observes the Sabbath rules the jewel Saturday is just another day of work we're open seven days a week so and we can satisfy those customers if I was a religious Jewish person I shouldn't really be open on a Saturday but I am and I am not religious did you say you want a little bit off this which little bit do you clothes are far too big for me I'm very small I wish the Jewish Community style is size zero skinny legs or size 16 and it hides a multitude of sins which being Jewish and eating a lot you need to do I'm just it's not it doesn't seem we are not Orthodox we don't stick to every single rule we'll drive on a Saturday the future being best we do things to keep traditional Family Values rather than sticking to every rule in the book that's being honest last night and in two hours we bought you one drink I don't know how to bend him straight away what was it a yard of Ale oh that would be very helpful well do you know what should we put a a wanted in the window yeah trying to be fashionable and strictly kosher can be a challenge for religious women weekdays are their opportunity to shop what would you say has been our top selling coat to the Orthodox um they like a longer coat though they've got the hoods when they're walking to the synagogue um obviously you're not allowed to carry on a Sabbath so there's no handbags there's nothing you can't carry umbrellas so when it rains you put the hood up [Music] um is that too provocative um not so into the leopard print ing too much but that's young yeah it's trendy the Orthodox don't shop on a Saturday for obviously reasons but Sunday morning as we open the doors there's quite a lot of orthodox I'd consider myself quite Jeff sure that my clue is like a balloon my elbows my neck burns my collarbones covered and my skits are below money everything I'm showing you is black ah my hot water is black the tour of States you should like make yourself look pretty for your husband and for yourself you've got to feel good about yourself and have confidence how Jewish women dress shows how religious or how from they are banetta Bays all the rules except one she doesn't wear a traditional wig or shato it's not if why should or anything it is a law that straight after the wedding yes please it could either be a hat a berry a wig whatever you are supposed to cover your hair yeah yeah but does it come with a guarantee that we look like you at the end yeah I have to look like you so we can be identical twins oh sure if it's like yours I've never worn away my mother never wore a wig it's not it's not right that I don't wear one I know I should wear one so you have to you have to schlep everything underneath yeah you have none of your own hair showing Everything's changed people have moved to the right you don't need to have any young girls today that would never have done years and years ago wore a wig now they all do it's automatic [Music] Mary no no it just feels fast I look about 76. oh my goodness I wonder what Marco think if I came home I came home hi Marco I thought I would say what would I say sorry I class myself as a modern Orthodox mum but somebody else but it's more religious than me might think oh well she doesn't wear if dress code denotes devotion there are none more religious than the rapidly growing haredi community he's having seven eight nine ten kids doesn't take Rockets ass to know that they're going faster than anyone else they've got their own schools and they have their own Shores and they have where I lived growing up is where that area is now you'd you would never really find a family like mine work now different this reminds me Poland before the war the Lord should I quote a million Jews before the war mainly 90 percent religious [Music] the dogs keep to themselves even within the Jewish Community the men are distinctive in their black clothes with untrimmed beards and long sideburns Called Peace [Music] now some could have it all cut round and look a normal haircut but it mustn't go below number two and then a lot of it is custom some have very very long ones that are wrapped around and thingy some have that you know short ones yeah yeah everything done yeah perfect brilliant it's in the Bible that he mustn't cut below a number two on the pair but they are wrong it's biblical but it also then becomes cultural because different people do it different ways it's just a good Orthodox Jewish haircut yeah on the three hours here before I came here for 34 years I never never mixed with Jewish people never mixed with my own kind or anything like that which is a long story basically through my brother being killed in the Yom Kippur War from 1973 I moved totally away from religion didn't want to know didn't bother and the fact is it it's fate lead you know I ashamed the Lord and directed me for whatever reason that's the way I see it oh came to England [Music] and we built up a good business we really worked hard I must say [Music] Japan stands for Jack myself p-i-n-pinky and D.A dated this whole Holocaust Survivors all three this was one of the biggest factories in England of London one of the biggest British made I consider myself a very rich man for one year I've achieved especially my grandchildren this is a big Fortune [Music] I am not anti-religion but I don't look at religion I respect it look you want to be religious why not as long as you don't interfere with me [Music] they care for one thing for the family and I think this is a very special gift in Burnett's Jewish World young girls and boys live almost Separate Lives it's not long before plans are made for a nice kosher marriage if you're religious then you go through a shadow which is a Matchmaker oh I've been a shattering and I've done it twice but they have professional people not me who just thinks or they look good together so let's get them together in one two three they're married thank you thank you Hannah this is Hannah and Jeremy's engagement party and they only met last month oh lovely is a Matchmaker introduce the two together and they met four weeks ago one two three that's it thank you we've been seeing each other for two weeks learning proposed to me oh so religious songs it's very normal some people actually only meet for an hour or two days before they get engaged okay fantastic the rituals of Jewish marriage start here with the breaking of a dinner plate symbolizing the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem two and a half thousand years ago those marriages do survive don't get divorced they've done all the homework before they've got married me and Michael met at a party so that was no shouting to start with so we were then going out for probably about seven eight months and then you give you a piece we actually did hold hands but we definitely didn't sleep together we definitely didn't do anything like that foreign [Music] Joel isn't religious but he still respects some Jewish Traditions his eldest daughter Mia has just turned 12 and she's getting ready for a very special party it happens what once in a lifetime A daughter's 12 so in the Jewish religion a girl at 12 gets Batman's Foods we're not very religious but it's a little bit of religious knowledge that they need to learn gives them a backbone it has to be done is a woman going into adult Womanhood really and becoming independent and mayor should be able to tell you a lot more about it I didn't actually have one how do you feel about making a speech yeah she does classes every Sunday morning to learn how to be a good Jewish woman thank you I enjoy organizing parties and I'm quite a showman really and I thought let's do something different I thought right we're going to have a Bollywood evening [Music] it's a Bollywood themed Bat Mitzvah party complete with Kosher Catering okay now we've not ordered food from um the kosher food the problem is uh there's some kosher meals that we've got to tell them to deliver them a special kosher meal and for very very religious people and it can't be touched so I've now got to ring them and tell them it will be here it needs to be here within half an hour and I've lost my speech [Music] help me [Applause] good evening everyone and welcome to me as Bat Mitzvah you all look unbelievable tonight thank you all for going to so much trouble I am a nice Jewish celebrating my about Mitzvah Bollywood style that must be a thirst for those of you who knew my parents my mom is normal but my dad has never been just look at him my children are probably as religious as I am because that's the way they've been brought up and I would like my children to marry within the religion as most people would well ladies and Gentlemen please if you can be quiet this is your host here tonight he is here what is a bar mitzvah Bar Mitzvah is when the Jews run for a drink uh gel speech is the notorious for being very rude very risque so people know not if they're easily offended that they should leave and why not laugh's all about laughter you don't laugh you cry [Music] a young girl comes of age when she's 12 but it won't be until the week before her wedding when she's introduced to the Jewish woman's best kept secret it's the Mikvah and most women should if not all women should come here once every month from the day one of your period you can't sleep together you have separate beds and you stay like that till you come to the Mikvah I should be undressed with a bath towel on me I would then walk down the steps completely into the water and immerse myself three times it's like you born like a baby with nothing on at all [Music] and then you're excited to be with your husband then that night because you've not been with him for two two weeks at least well it's it's like a renewed you're doing the marriage every every month yeah that's what happened Jewish people seem to have quite a lot of sex because they don't religious Jewish people don't have televisions when I was growing up there was the funny old story about having sex through a sheet and I expected to see uh sheets hanging on washing lands with holes cutting them fish life one of the most joyous occasions is a wedding today Sarah will marry yossi in a strictly kosher ceremony my friend's daughter married today we're all getting ready to go to the wedding we're all getting dressed up and it's going to be Fab Fab wedding it's the custom for a Jewish bride and groom not to see each other for a week before the wedding Hopper this is where the concave in about an hour from now meanwhile you'll see the groom is given moral support from friends and family as the seconds tick away the ceremony starts with the signing of the Jewish marriage contract and yossi signals with his hanky that he's happy to go ahead this wedding is a meeting of two great Jewish cultures yossi is an Ashkenazi Jew from Eastern Europe while Sarah is a Sephardic Jew of Middle Eastern origin status I'm very proud to be here today he proposed I accepted and the only thing I expect from him is to change from Manchester United to be a city fan and put the veil over her biblical story of Jacob who married the wrong woman who hid her face behind a veil is that the right one [Music] [Applause] [Music] a traditional Jewish wedding is the Pinnacle of family life even the most non-religious Jews want their children to remain in the faith and not marry out this is the foundation of the continuity of Jewish life [Music] [Music] in Orthodox weddings men and women guests will stay apart for the whole day [Music] [Applause] how cute is that married [Music] just like at the engagement party the Smashing of the glass is a reminder of the destruction of the temple and the spiritual Destiny of the Jewish people now that Sarah and yossi are married this is the first time they can touch each other [Applause] it doesn't matter whether it's an engagement and anything a boy can't touch a girl until after the wedding Mr and Mrs Schwartz people make a big hoo-ha about weddings and you don't actually need the big kerfuffles that they make but they do [Music] traditional curtains separating men from women does little to dampen the enthusiasm of the party goers [Music] I've been to weddings where they've even had a separate entrance so at the car park of said the bad to Michael and he's gone in one entrance and I've gone in another and not literally not seen and there's been a brick wall up in the middle of the room and a woman but the men's dancing is far better than the women's dancing any day [Music] [Applause] my wedding it's 25 years ago ready for my silver wedding I've had three children since then and I've had my own daughter's wedding I'm having a great time [Music] my father and mother were married 61 years they pumped me out about 10 years happiness [Music] in the old days they lasted and lasted they just didn't get divorced yeah I've got to go nap I'm leaving you to him because he's dancing tonight [Music] I got two gorgeous boys hopefully both of them will marry nice from Jewish girls she's got to be very special for my boys not letting anyone have my boys they're very special [Applause] [Music] it's Friday night and Jack arrives at his daughter Debbie's home for dinner it's a very special occasion all the family have gathered for his 13 year old grandson Benny's Bar Mitzvah his Jewish Coming of Age amen [Music] Friday night meal is special in Poland I'm talking the population was poor they're saved all week for the Friday night meal a little bit of chicken goose and they sat at the stable I get sad I get set for what I've done running man I came to England in 1945 back in 1966 I meet up with the room when I seen their first time I knew is my wife Jack and Rona now have two children and three grandchildren Jack couldn't have a bar mitzvah at 13 because he was living under Nazi occupation in Poland now 70 years on his only grandson is about to do what Jack was forbidden to do he said I want a nice bar mitzvah for Jack to be proud of me in that synagogue which I was and he did the perfect he's an intelligence he's better looking than me but that doesn't matter but if there wasn't the grandad they wouldn't be Benny the tremendous he is oh I didn't have any doubt Hitler should have been here and see what's happening I meant it in a form of Revenge do you understand the grandfather he wanted to kill he almost achieved it almost terrific Benny's Bar Mitzvah wouldn't be complete without a no expense spared party to celebrate the occasion in style Benny wanted a really nice spell Mitzvah so the family can afford it he got it exactly why not Benny's promise was fantastic and it was fabulous seeing Jack there and you could see a tear in his eye he sat there watching his grandson I mean what really was going through his mind [Music] [Applause] [Music] my feeding about his grandchildren account describe it I had a little belly I had a brother who was murdered at the age of nine cast [Music] what can I say to Benny Benny you know you my Palazzi I mean it he's the replacement for my brother [Music] Jack's story is a living reminder of the Deliverance that has been a part of Jewish culture for thousands of years [Music] the Annual Festival of Purim also celebrates Deliverance the story of Queen Esther saving Exile Jews in Persia from extermination in biblical times it's one of the most joyous festivals in the Jewish calendar it's the custom to drown out the name of Haman the villain whenever it's read out in the service this is what you do all day you get you've received thank you very nice thank you very much and thousands and thousands of pounds of raised today for all needy different things [Music] brib is a fantastic Festival you know you live in a community you breathe in a community you eat with a community and they're not bothered if you're religious or you're not religious [Music] you see people getting drunk which is the only time that we actually are commanded to get drunk in a in law [Applause] the community has come together as one family to celebrate Deliverance the Purim spirit is at its most energetic here in the very heart of the ultra-orthodox community a normally reserved people Revel in the joy of Judaism [Applause] for the extreme rides all together in one place and that's how it should be to me then [Music] the Manchester Jewish Community has thrived for over 200 years it Embraces all levels of religious observance now with a rising birth rate in the ultra-orthodox community there is a corresponding reassession of Jewish identity the modern generation has seen that they won't have either authentic Judaism or the other one out [Music] everybody's going a bit more religious because of the schoolings and the children and the children are teaching the mothers and fathers what to do people say oh they've we all live in ghettos we're all very into that we all don't like any intrusion from the outside world well the outside world hasn't been very kind to us over the years Manchester is a city uplift the last 60 years I've seen two worlds have been in hell in the last 60 years in Paradise [Music] the Manchester tourist Community is my life they are fabulous fabulous Community we work together we stick together and it's your home it's really been brought up how many people are there thirty thousand 30 000 levels Joel those are big fish balls he blocked some comments on my balls there's two things Jewish people love eating and clothing loss for words fantastic yeah I'm a good Jewish boy my first job was on the Bacon counter can you believe that lunatics me I'm a modern Orthodox mum of three a busy house and I'm a busy person and I'm trying to good work and that's who I am well I don't get time off and it's a big problem stressful not easy difficult and you've got to deal with very sensitive issues food was created by God where'd that culture come in through yet [Music] Wolford to Mount Sinai Jewish life is centered around family food and festivals from birth to death life's key stages are marked by ritual and devotion and not all of it strictly kosher [Music] Jewish Traders settled in Manchester over 200 years ago it's now the fastest growing community in Europe [Music] [Applause] [Music] we're leading up to the Festival of Yom Kippur the day of atonement it's when Jews symbolically throw away their sins and fast for 25 hours even Jews who don't observe any other festivals will refrain from work Joel lever is hosting his end of Yom Kippur party are we all hungry Ian have you been fasting today Goods good lovely today's the day of atonement so we've fasted all day we've been to the synagogue now everyone's come to break the fast and some of my Muslim friends they fast for a month and it's fantastic we only have to do it for a day and so who who's the lucky ones there you have to truly sins [Music] so what we're going to do shortly is we're going to go and find a lake somewhere we're going to throw ourselves in it cleanse our bodies of all your sins and then jump out again yeah and then we're done for another we're done again the hardest part is the fasting though because we do like our food yeah 25 hours is a long time any room for a little one I'm not a religious person I know what I should do and what I shouldn't do but I think at the end of the day if you're a good person you've got everything I went to a Jewish school but we were never religious I had a bar mitzvah I remember wearing a brown flared suits big flare trousers and they had to uh cover me platform shoes I love that suit I took a little pouch with me with my sins but there were neighbors passing me with wheelbarrows it was unbelievable religion is a faith and I've been born into that faith and yes you're proud of your heritage but we live in a modern era with over 30 holidays a year only the most religious Jews fully observe them all five days after Yom Kippur is sukkas the Jewish Harvest Festival full observance demands buying a bundle of leaves and a rare citrus fruit known in Hebrew as an S rug to be Jewish is is part of your life not part-time is full-time it's living by a set of laws which have been laid down that's what you aim for if you want to be fully Jewish but all of them are different prices depending on the quality of the escrow without blemishes and that's a nice one but these have all got pittums which is that and that's quite delicate if that's not tough invalidates it completely you might as well not have one might as well have a lemon there's no price limit on devotion the very best s rig can cost hundreds of pounds a piece if it says 220 pounds same with the cheapest Lola Vanessa you've got because I'm a cheapskate you could have this this is the basic one I'll do a half price which is 30 pounds is that the cheapest you did I don't do less just this time I'll I'll just I'll Splash out would I pay 500 pounds for a soft fruit I'd rather a leather jacket the S rug is one of four plant species required for sulcus the others are Willow Myrtle and a palm leaf called a lullaby it's actually it's closed but it's got the leaves goes like this if you wanted something which is top of the range the Rolls-Royce of a lot of you could be talking a hundred pounds because as he said it's not cheap to be Jewish it always comes with a price tag anyhow so that is the ultimate test of faith I think to see how much you're really gonna be willing to part with what's your cheapest are you looking for one for yourself yeah look at that beautifully closed each and every single leaf over there they're all fantastically close you've got yourself a lovely little okay please don't hit anyone out of this action s 60p from Tesco's and this as we've just seen cost anything from 25 pounds to 300 pounds that's what they call Jewish inflation [Music] soccer serves as a reminder of the 40 years the Jews wandered the desert after leaving Egypt in biblical times the more religious choose to spend eight days under the stars in a flimsy Hut are you sitting in a shed but like whenever sitting in a shed they mean suckers what I said yeah we eat outside in our shared for a week we open a roof we put all fancy chains on it and they think we are absolutely mad but we do and the boys sleep in it my boy's sleeping than watching X Factor I mean my sucker isn't very big so I can only have about eight or ten people in it but we drink can we joke can we laugh and we sing I'm a very busy person and I'm probably the exception to most Orthodox Jewish women because a lot of them just do stay at home and make Callum and you know got in a charm of people I don't I have to do everything it's not men only ever since men only this isn't men only if it wasn't for the women who would make them but that's what we do which they do is cook we'd starve without the women [Music] [Applause] Jewish Community prays hard and plays hard Jewish Unity is also one of the themes of circus drawing together Jews with different levels of knowledge and observance it's just about giving the kids a good time it's all it is look I've got nothing against grasslands the Traditions which doesn't interfere with the next person I know I'm not observant but I don't feel guilty retire [Music] D Man Jack Eisenberg lost his faith after surviving the Holocaust now he spends much of his time telling school children about his experiences you see Auschwitz had a selection system they selected people to work and the rest to the glass Chambers Jack was 19 years old when he came to Manchester in 1945 just one of 300 Jewish orphans who survived the horrors of the Holocaust they're a dwindling Band of Brothers and every week Jack meets up with fellow Survivor Sam laskier if I have rice I don't want chapati do I you know what I like don't you food was created by God where does scholarship come into it well I know from experience and well sinned in life the biggest pain is being hungry the biggest pain yeah it's hungry yeah if you're hungry you submit to anything anything you do anything for a piece of bread we came over together in 1945 we were about 3 30 of us and Manchester and we always kept together but unfortunately there's not many of us left I am a survivor I don't mind being called a Survivor I was tattoo I've got a tattoo on my own trauma that has not gone away it will never go away I think I live with it for the rest of my life still haunted by The Experience Jack wants to return to Poland to find out why he was the only Survivor in his family thank you so that's where we differ I don't want to go to Poland I've been once I saw where I lived we went to Treblinka and I was in Auschwitz and this is it because for me it's enough but to me to go to stashov I could live there because that's where I was born that's where my parents went and I sometimes experience honestly I must tell you I'm in the cash chamber it was the and I don't mind you don't mind no because I embrace them they are struggling for breasts I'm slowly for pleasure finish we all gone together because I'm here because of my father said Jack maybe you should we should split and you should go into hiding that's what I mean that's how you survive the fact that we are still sane if you're still here is a miracle in itself yeah for many Jews in Manchester there's one place they truly feel at home Israel Burnett's daughter Leanne has lived there since she got married now she's got news for her mum we're going to Israel to see the new baby please Garden we're going to see Simon Leanne and two gorgeous little boys and we're on our way [Music] probably the one and only in 25 years bye-bye have you gone now my daughter's lived there for three years and I've been to see on those occasions with the little boys and her way of life is not like it is here for me but that's what she's chosen [Music] that's our life I hope to come back though I don't care how they're happy I want them home this little car gets to me so this would be a last one okay I'm going to be going down with it most Jewish people have Jerusalem at the heart of their lives it's the heart of our prayers and I don't think we should be embarrassed because of it [Music] country it's where we can feel at home in we haven't got a problem with the food you're with a fellow Jew and that's how it is it's much easier to be there a lot of The Commandments are the only appertaining to the land of Israel so living outside Israel you're not a fulfilled Jew to me it's a holiday place it's fun it's very very modern clubs restaurants it's a young country and it's a fantastic place to Holiday but it's no holiday for Burnett she's come to Israel to help her daughter's family they live in one of the most Orthodox areas of Jerusalem this is Hannah very very very religious area nobody has a television no one has a video so you won't see my daughter or the grandchildren on this program they actually live up there on the first floor in an apartment really really nice this is my usual trip here when I'm with my daughter shopping cooking helping her making chicken soup you can't be without the next mommy's chicken soup new baby nappies everything's kosher in the supermarket's a lot easier to have to check I just buy it if most people now are moving more to the right where they are becoming much more religious my daughter and son-in-law to other people that are like my friends at home would say she's more Orthodox than me she wears a hair covered I don't and he learns the nearship of my husband doesn't he work s so cute to have about a thousand babies blessing are born a month here which is a lot of babies so every other shop is a babyware shop that's how it is in England at least I'd have a car to get about him but this is an absolute joke we've got three she's on the third floor we've got three Flats of dares to get to back in Manchester Joe lever is getting into shape for a hard day on the front line of fashion be careful what's underneath it's very very frightening oh Saturday morning coming in transform yourself ready for the day and you can do it vigorously send them in a washing machine I'm not filling out Amma no are you sure you tell me well I'm a self-made man I was 15 and I went to work for a department store in Manchester and they started me on the Bacon counter nice Jewish boy what's in a bacon counter so I think I was drawn to Fashion a buy I sell a design if I can earn money I'll do it to coin a Jewish phrase I'm in the schmatter game there's always a bar mitzvah there's always a bat mitzvah there's always something Jewish people love clothes it's a good luck charm and every Jewish household has one and you put them on the side of the door and it's got a scroll inside I have one on every door in the house and most Jewish people do based in the heart of North Manchester Mon Ami has been catering for fashionable and from ladies for 25 years you've had quite a few religious ladies in this week but one thing religious women don't wear they don't wear Reds because red draws your attention to a woman yeah no you can have red hair you can have a red shade in French to take this let me take this off that is stunning you can put a black top under that with sleeves and then it becomes kosher I think a lot of Jewish people are in the rag trade because it comes naturally to them um and if you've got a little bit of a flare about you you're good at it do you know my favorite tune the singing at the till [Laughter] where does it go do we know that tune kitchens [Music] is heavy she must have act well we cater for everyone in that fact we start from birth right through until exit time I don't do shrouds but I do everything else how do I look I've always been a businessman I was about eight or nine and it was a lady who lived across the road from us and she used to sunbathe in the back Garden of course she was topless and so I charged the other kids in the street a penny and I helped them onto the garage roof and we all used to peer over this is my Irish mother and that is my Jewish son and I've known for a long time so how long have you been with us well I've known you 28 years she's a marvelous sales girl people come here to see you you're like a monument that is awful no well you are people come here you get presents bought for you of course you get presents they come in to see how you're and when they come in to see how you are they spend money and money and your loves the sound of that too most of my girls now are late 50s early 60s and they come to work because they enjoy it the customers love them and we do we work as a big family the Jewish race has been going thousands of years and yes you're proud of your heritage but we live in a modern era and what they used to do in the desert 5 000 years ago they did because they knew no difference Joel's shop has always traded seven days a week but now he started to get angry letters from the religious community about opening on the Sabbath there are many Shoma Shabbat people either unaware that your clothing store is Jewish owned they would feel sick and disgusted knowing that they are supporting a store which is open on the Shabbos um I believe in living that live and I get infuriated because what they try and do is they try and turn me into being more religious I don't want to be more religious right what are we doing well the more religious people observe shabba's spy totally Downing tools some people don't turn the lights on they don't drive they don't do anything that is mechanical yeah everything's great what about the players you're leaving them a bit longer no no cut them cut them just to the Bowl yeah okay I don't work on establishment used to be I never observed it at all and I used to work on Sabbath and maybe it's influence of me be working down in this area and and being amongst Jewish people you've been friends with people for 25 30 years now obviously they're non-jewish to Christian this at the other and then you invite you around and say hey Clyde we're having a meal or having this I don't know you're saying sorry I can't come to your house anymore what do you mean why because I've suddenly got religious I've suddenly eating kosher food and whatever uh oh right that to me is an oh no you know you can't do that to people okay you remember very good I know about Shabbos because I was brought up to the age of 17 in the religious Atmosphere Family religion but that was their life Jack eisenberg's life changed with the outbreak of the second world war he lost his family in the Holocaust but he survived to make a life in Britain now he's going back to visit his past we are going to Poland stash of the town I was born because don't forget I am the only survivor of the small family of the four of us I can ask myself the question why me why not the habits [Music] Jack was born in 1926 one of three and a half million Jews living in Poland at the time it was the largest Jewish community in Europe stash of will always be in my heart that's where I lived with my parents in my little brother shmelke we lived here this was my grandfather's shop he lived upstairs and downstairs he had like food food shop in 1942 stash off was a town of 12 000 people half of whom were Jews trapped in a ghetto this used to be the synagogue in the this Square was 99 percent Orthodox shoes [Music] after three years of occupation the Nazis ordered the evacuation of the ghetto a day known as black Sunday that's where the bridge was the day before Jack's father Isaac took his family to the river and gave him a choice that would save his life my father said to me look you're the oldest son you don't have to say yes it is up to you what you want I suggest you don't come with us why because in case something goes wrong that evening I went into the hiding enthusiastic that's it that was the last time now if you're sick yeah the following day his family were among seven thousand Jews sent to belsek extermination camp out of the train and rest and straight to the gas chamber yeah and I tell you that's what happened to my family [Music] there are no Jews left in stash off today Jack one of a handful of survivors from the town has never forgotten the family he left behind especially his little brother shmelke he was nine years old gosh what kind of a world is that what has he done wrong yes yes he was a Jew that's what his guilt he wasn't sure [Applause] there's nothing quite like a Jewish wedding whether you're invited or not you just go with the flow here and Jerusalem everyone just turns up for weddings and they just go once you dress the party it's fine picture this wedding where it's the nearest and dearest me for Manchester I haven't even been invited the next thing pushed me in dance with the bride I just thought what you doing [Music] Burnett's Manchester has a handful of kosher shops in Jerusalem there are whole districts many are settled by ultra-orthodox Jews from Eastern Europe but there's always a few friends from home here as well my upbringing was very religious my mum never wore a shato but it wasn't like it is today first of all you have to be quiet no you have to wear a shirt or don't and that sort of thing so I you have to fit into this sort of little box if you don't cover your hair with a wig you can look quite cute and trendy with a scarf [Music] oh my God you have to have a nice Faith to do this area you have to look now oh I can't wear that oh I look like I'm fine fish or something look like I'm making chicken soup Natalia what about the ones that go like that [Music] do you like this um if you live in Manchester you wouldn't take it off you'd wear that on your head all the time Anglia the more religious areas of Jerusalem have strict rules of modesty dictating not only dress codes but also the segregation of men and women I have been on a road where there's been women on one side and Men on the other side fat somebody said to me if I saw my middle boy in the street when he was in Yeshiva do not hug him do not go near him but that's what they're like you have to really respect them yeshivas are men only colleges of Jewish learning Israel has become the place to be for Many religious boys from Manchester well Yeshiva is basically a college where you would spend up to 10 hours a day studying mostly the talmud and areas of Jewish law therefore it sets you up for life because you get a good knowledge before you get married and then you know how to run your own home bring up your children supposedly [Music] thousands and thousands of boys are there all learning in these white shirts and it's like a uniform with a black suit from the black hats I think this is nice Gabby's friends for Manchester Gabby and they're coming here to looking for girls I think and I've been here since August 29th in Yeshiva here we start at 7 15. but we do have a break in the afternoon for about two hours that's why women don't do things like that we just make bread I miss the friends that are still there but I love it in Israel we're slowly losing gorgeous boys it's gonna be just me myself and I will be back [Music] it's a new thing now a boy should go into try and do some learning before University my youngest wants going in July we're gonna start off for two years six could be seven especially even here I could bring it back a potato I don't want to say I'm going to lose my son because I won't but a lot can get into the system and they don't come out the heads of the fish you have that on my channel parents will see them once or twice a year either be married finished thank you [Music] Joe Oliver keeps kosher on his regular visit to Manchester's oldest Jewish Bakery I don't think there's any chance of my children wanting to go on a Yeshiva or seminary in Israel because we don't live that sort of life yeah you're gonna make some bread with Emma and Ollie my children have been brought up in a kosher home and they're taught everything they need to know about Judaism as they grow older then it depends what path they want to take they might want to go religious and they might want to not be religious okay get your three strands you do a plot like that yeah defines a Jewish religion Friday night is nothing without Thoroughbred I mean to have a color on the table is very very important do I look like hey don't eat bread I love color yeah there we go lovely fresh color I think that um understanding the food that's associated with the Jews is very important but I think more important is understanding the religion for the non-jewish person looking into serious life and it must be really really confusing for them and I think for a Jewish person being involved in Jewish culture I think it's just as confusing when did you know you wanted to be a masturbate from about 11 yeah that all to the car just have a look in the mirror [Music] she likes What She Likes but at night she gets all her clothes out don't you and you lie them all out ready for the next day she's going to take over daddy's business aren't you turn around a lot of Jewish people are in the rag trade because it's inherited because the parents were in it so when a lot of the immigrants came to England they were in the rug trade I don't really want my kids to follow in my footsteps I think it'd be a lot easier for them if they had a profession yes stunning well do you fancier in it I fancy you're in a bin bag [Music] Joel is still getting complaints from the Orthodox Community for opening on the Sabbath he's decided to respond with a letter of his own I get these poison pen letters I get nastiness uh and I don't like it and I've had enough of it and that is the letter that I've written to the paper not nasty not horrible it just covers how I feel keeping kosher is a lifetime commitment Newlands is a Jewish care home and their kosher credentials are in the hands of part-time Rabbi zevie Saunders my dad is a rabbi I've watched him and followed him around and people saying they thought I had the skills and and then I got a job as a junior Minister and I just thought okay well I might as well become a rabbi hello ladies you all right afternoon Sybil hello Betty some rabbis have to do a lot of pastoral work going Wizarding people some rabbis have to lead the services some rabbis don't keeping the kitchen kosher means checking eggs for blood vegetables for insects and even lighting the gas the goddesses age-old Jewish tradition that Jewish people should cook for Jewish people Jews do not eat bugs in their fruits or vegetables so as lettuce is well sometimes riddle with little bugs and first of all soaking them in salt water and then I will inspect it by the sunlight if there is any left maybe that's why Jews love eating more than drinking because drinking is easy you just take out a bottle and drink whereas here we have to feel love and affection to our food so far they're quite clean check for dirt at the tops that appears to be a small little creature of some sort but anything exciting I've never found a snake or anything rabbi's job is to be nosy stick is nosing whether it's cold for or not to see how things are really going so I like to say as a rabbi you've got to be a jake of the ladder kind of a guy yes your heads can be in the clouds but you've got to have your feet firmly on the ground you live in this world gotta know what's going on for thousands of years the word of God has been written down in Taurus Scrolls and parchments even today in Manchester the work of a scribe is far from obsolete the heads of the academy in which I was studying gave me an option of the three categories The Scribe the Jewish slaughterer and the circumcisor and of course I don't really like the sight of blood but on the other hand writing yes that sounds very interesting and uh yes I would like to follow that please and obviously the rest is history the whole thing is labor from beginning to end it makes notes of no consequence because even one letter can invalidate the whole rig of my own of course if it was to become invalid and that person was to wear these to fill in for the next 30 40 50 years then the sin by not having kosher to fill in would not be his fault whatsoever it would all be my fault so as I say that is a burden which is very very heavy to carry we met at my sister's house and then we knew it was right and we got engaged after two meetings two days and we have been married for 34 years and it couldn't be better after having written for 30 odd years I'm afraid I would need a long time to calculate how many I've actually written in that time but suffice to say many many hundreds if not thousands of them as others over that period of time our youngest son is a zaharia who is married to Hannah our middle I would have liked at least one of the children to to have become a scribe but no none of them was interested and our oldest son the consensus amongst them was that it's too solitary and they're social creatures and and they felt that it just wasn't for them [Music] it's Monday morning at the Western Wall in Jerusalem this is the holiest Jewish site in the world Jewish people worldwide face this wall in their prayers I'm going to go down the right hand side because it's a lady section it can't be with the men because they've got to put me noting gonna give me the docker say a few of my davening my prayers and then I feel better because that's what Israel's about you all everyone comes here foreign [Music] oh how fantastic [Music] I'm putting my little note into the wall because that's what I want to do and it's bright yellow so maybe it'll be answered on the plan I think Jewish people have been hated over the years can't answer the question why my boys have occasionally been out in the city center and had a school cap flicked off the head but we just think it's ignorance we think that there's not enough knowledge of what it is I've had a swastika drawn in the ice on my car I've had Jew written on the side of my car which I thought oh yes I have a Jew quite correct how did they know in the Jewish prayers there is mention we the chosen people I want to be not chosen I wish I was in my passport nationality human race in 1942 16 year old Jack Eisenberg escaped certain death by hiding he was discovered after two weeks and sent to Kilcher in Poland as a slave worker for a German armaments Factory called Hassan it's behind the building left this used to be a hashtag and that's where I worked for nearly two years you were not classed as a human being no water no Heating and it's a thought you're not fit to work anymore so they killed you future if it was a future I could have been collected again in the last minute put on a train into an extermination camp 18 year old Jack's luck ran out by the winter of 1944 when he was put on a cattle train to Germany and they pushed it in line told the people started falling on top of me and very soon I was covered was bodies and I had to dig myself out and then two days later we arrived in Burger [Music] it's Burnett's last night in Israel and she's come to say goodbye to all her friends most are from Manchester and they've all exercised their right in Israel's law of return to settle here would you like some soup most of these people here tonight are attached to Manchester Manchester Manchester Manchester Manchester husband Manchester Spencer when I'm in Isla we have the most amazing wonderful friends that all lived in England well let me tell you they just make me and Michael one of the family this is my home Ground full stop full stop Hannah is no it's a bit too heavy mob for me but it's fine yeah we're more more like Banette modern orthodox black quite hard to beat in both worlds but you have to be and some very religious people can't they think the world should be made up of Jewish people Jewish shops Jewish people Jewish clothes Jewish this Jewish that it isn't even in Israel not everybody's the same you can't when people say you've not come back sometimes I need a holiday when I come back three of them under the age of two please God Liam will have lots of babies whatever Hashem gives her she will have that's what they believe in that's what she wants I'm not having them I'm not bringing them up she's doing it it's not for me and the mum keep stub [Music] is that just for the camera it's great give me the excitement when he sees me for Joel It's Just Another Day fighting the flab morning with 10 minutes of keep fat keep it tight this is what I like easy exercise don't need to take your jacket off oh my shoes well I'm trying to lose a bit of weight The Lazy Man's way unfortunately I'm a foodie I'm being Jewish you know the foods very nice and you know what I I can feel Charles is slightly looser three two one gone uh today sooner's birthday and she's 80. she's wonderful she's fantastic uh una's been with me virtually since day one Luna is my Irish second one and she's fantastic it's not often you find someone like this you know and he's trying to he's trying to get rid of me ever since me letters in let me letters in um and it's titled customer said Rabbi had told her to avoid my shop yeah it's terrible but you know again it's rules for one and rules for another it's not getting more religious I just think there's more religious people about because the community is growing alongside a growing Jewish Community is a boom in betrothals this is a wedding invitation that's happening tomorrow right that's the next invitation that's happening in four weeks a wedding invitation that for another wedding imitation that's happening in two weeks this isn't an engagement invitation that's happening next week so all the things that we're getting invited to that's all we do tonight Burnette is going to Rabbi zevi Saunders engagement party it's a romantic story his fiancee Erica Corman is American three two and in order to seal it all we do it in an old traditional way by Kenyan suda I'm giving you something which is a piece of a garment into the floor first one to marry every Showtime be a good husband to her care for her cherish her [Applause] Masters breaking the plate is a final gesture so too is their engagement oh I'm so excited for these two how did you meet we met on the internet internet dating we uh I sent an email on a Jewish dating website and then I ignored him and then because it's a rabbi and he's from Manchester that's so far away forget it I'm not gonna respond she turned me down on two websites and the third one I got it and I thought oh British British accent well that's also always really cute about four or five of the girls that I've been out with uh I think I've always been dumped no once I ended it but all the other times they ended it with me no she didn't want to do that at all somebody once mentioned to me that they think people find me overpowering perhaps and dominating not in a bad way but sort of you know sort of very overbearing perhaps zevie was with Erica for 22 days but they never touched but he finally popped the question on a day trip to Edinburgh I asked her to marry me on the 20th of December at Edinburgh Castle and I asked her if I could anoint her as my queen and so great guys yeah yeah and then she said yes to marry off the children and a lot of them get married very young and you wonder why would a girl get married at 16 or 17 but they just do because please God they want them to get married and have children and keep going and keep going and more children and more children that's how it is we're trying to give out a place to all the single gorgeous girls weddings are a major part of our religion we have thank God kanana horror a lot of Jewish weddings no Jewish weddings no babies and we need babies to carry on [Music] do you know the Manchester Jewish community on the whole it's a fun Community I wonder just welcome [Music] festivals very very busy time we've got all loads of them do you know if I shot my answer could be in Blackpool I'm good girl with bad habit that was made for you we met on the internet and then I ignored him we love Jewish weddings weddings are a major part of our religion I wasn't given any formal sexual education I suppose they want me to learn on the job no Jewish wedding no babies can we need babies to carry on with a boom in babies and the Mitzvahs Manchester's Jewish Community is a rich mixture of devotion ritual and Indulgence not all of it strictly kosher [Music] the Manchester Jewish Community works on many levels from religious to secular some of the more Orthodox live and work solely inside the community While others make a living outside and straddle Two Worlds can you believe that lunatics me this is where I work every single day I don't sit at home making cooking in strudels I come out of my house every morning it's quarter to seven to come to work and the events organizer for Auntie I am the fundraiser for ENT I am the patience waiting list coordinator for ENT I want ENT and I still do my job Manisha I think you might need my blood pressure checking today it's me my love it's me I think the notes are in your room in a pile very very Orthodox women to have a lot of children they can't work the women are there to look after the home and be subservient to their husbands well I'm not subservient tomorrow oh my God because I am the Jewish member here and I'm organizing your Christmas tree your Christmas night out your Christmas your Christmas lunch and I don't even celebrate the things I'm not bothered if I get into trouble or I'm not I want to know about their Christmas and what they do they want to know about mine we need you know what we need on the top and I can drop it what's that a chewy Star of David when you've got one just looking looks as if it's a bit for Shick of this treat you know that means drunk my mum came from Dublin and my dad was born and bred in Manchester my upbringing was very religious my father was very very from my mum was as well but it wasn't like it is today being Jewish is that's my that's what I am and that's how I am that's how we all are whether you work in the community or outside it's the family and the home that's at the heart of Jewish life just as the year is punctuated with holy days fasts and feasts family life also has celebrations and rituals to Mark both the happy and the sad times husband Michael is mourning the loss of his mother receive we beseech you in your great loving kindness the soul of oyster brainer bus rib URI Brenda Clark one minute in the morning my mother-in-law was not well she was quite poor in the morning you can't believe it within four hours she's dead buried finished done we tend to bury them quite quickly within 24 hours and then we have a seven day morning period where we sit in the house and people come and visit and his prayers this morning period is called sitting shiver the Hebrew word for seven food is brought in people are in and out sent bringing in their condolences and they're not allowed to make a cup of tea make a drink have a get nothing we are here to serve them that's how it works yeah that's a nice one of them all went down but she was a fighter and so was my father in the ways because he survived the Holocaust and he was here came to England absolutely painless she was always busy with the children then her grandchildren and in The Wider community confidence perfect they're not allowed to look at themselves through the week they're not allowed to change their clothes they're not allowed to wear anything new we caught the the garments that's number one and we don't shave for the first period of morning which is the first month [Music] as we say only yeah on the unhappy occasion only on happy occasion not terrible we're lucky we've got this week of morning where we can sit and the talk about the Dead I'm talking maybe 200 people all came to be Jewish is is part of your life is not part-time it's full-time the Jewish 24 7 as they say it's the last morning of prayers because it's the last morning of prayers and shift this up you make which is to say I wish a long life to everyone at the end of the shiver they instructed to get it by the rabbi and now that's the third morning and now it's time to move on to the next to the next stage [Music] it's finished I'm up Okay carry on work on this certain restrictions morning for Michael will last for a full year in that time he can't listen to music and enjoy himself even on Jewish holidays [Music] it commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the Miracle of a day's Temple oil that burned for eight days foreign I suppose if you're religious in my eyes it seems quite hard because there's quite some quite strict rules and it's expensive that's chocolate money that's not real I don't find it hard to be Jewish at all because to be honest with you I do what I want they only had one day worth of oil but it lasted eight days and that's why you have something made with oil have a bite [Music] [Laughter] [Music] at Burnett's house it's not Hanukkah without a party for friends and family Hanukkah party with never without Marco he's not here he is here you will see him in the kitchen on his own eating his dinner and then he's going out and that is it so he's not allowed any entertainment any music any um Gatherings any Sims nothing one of our great laws is honoring parents and that's while they're alive and also after the dead since I mean myself and our party but don't worry because you'll have fun because my friends are coming to enjoy it happy Hanukkah happy Hanukkah oh look this is and before we start we've just got one little person that wants to come and say bye-bye hello I'm bye-bye make yourself at home open the Wine open the whiskey with Michael out of the house the party carries on but there's also a serious side to this occasion it's a thank you to all their friends who helped out after his mother's death I've lost my mom and I've lost my dad Michael's lost both his parents and all these people a valid rounds that's why I'm here to share our Hanukkah party yeah we didn't expect anything but could have had non-jewish people at my table tonight we're all just the same whether we're wearing wigs no wigs short sleeve long sleeve trousers no trousers we're all Jewish and we're all one and that's what we that's how we all are [Music] the party spirit continues at Newlands the kosher care home where rabbis Evie Saunders works part-time so when's the wedding well everyone seems to be asking me that either or just after Facebook about the 22nd of April or whatever but we shall see we've just got engaged big big thing for us if they've got us engaged another one after list yes my role here is to ensure that all the ingredients that are used for the cooking are all kosher the meat the fish there you go everything has a kosher label on it I'm not going to go through the whole pantry if in case you find something that doesn't have a label on yeah that was a joke yeah I hope it's yet [Music] oh nice to see you how are you feeling [Music] yeah you know my mother-in-law unfortunately passed away so it's a little easier for me because it's not my mum but it is a bit sad to have to come back can you do that's life as one dies another one gets born successful businessman Jack Eisenberg lost his parents in the Holocaust when he was a boy in Poland now he's retracing the footsteps of his remarkable journey of survival in 1944 after two years as a slave worker he was transported by cattle train to a German concentration camp called buchenwald foreign s [Music] the older people started falling on top of me and I had to dig myself out because you know they would have suffocated me these tracks could talk and describe what was waiting for us [Music] Jewish fashion entrepreneur Joel lever brings a taste of Continental glamor to North Manchester that's for you to try on oh I don't think there's two things Jewish people love eating and clothing so I'm not a good cook so I'm in the clothing business loss for words fantastic in fact it's the 25th year and so I started when I was about 10. all this French stuff will go quickly we're off to Paris we've got quite a few appointments so we're just getting everything packed there's a couple of girls coming with me we'll have a bit of fun [Music] every month Joel goes abroad to Source the latest fashions for Mon Ami in Manchester [Music] here we go another day another dollar [Music] with a population of 600 000 France has the largest number of Jews in Europe most live in Paris which is also home to the fashion industry my eyes are everywhere trying to find something that I think we can sell if you think any religious people would wear that it's not long enough oh do you think you can sell that girls yes I go quite a lot to Paris I go to Italy quite a lot but Paris in particular I mean I do have a laugh I don't like it blue I find difficult the I call it varicose vein blue the fashion industry in Paris is mainly out of Chinese or Jewish I don't like it totally totally different cultures but Drawn Together by one passion they're working in fashion you won't sell that color do you know what shmatty is it's Martinez it's a rag and schmanderers all these bits and pieces I don't like it [Music] but this is unique the one you had with the school get the calculator let's work out the best price for me right let's go um [Music] I'm good girl with bad habit that was made for you I normally like the fashions in Paris but I just think so much of it looks old-fashioned it's more for now but I feel like I I want to wipe down the tables people have got a good sense of style the more religious you are the more covered up you actually need to be so all the short dresses we sell go obviously to the non-religious I like chocolate cake yeah can you imagine a size 16 in that no with the chocolate cake spread all over her face a fair garment sleeveless I've got the tops that go underneath so it becomes kosher yes Jewish people they like the good price it's impossible 59 it's impossible impossible I once bought a t-shirt in Italy and on the front it said slag and I said slag they said yes it's the thing that crawls along the floor I said it's a slug [Music] from Jewish Paris to the streets of Manchester even a rabbi has to make ends meet zevi Saunders supplements his income as a schlepper for the Orthodox community I work with Martin Mann we do removals and deliveries around the Jewish community a rabbit can have as many jobs as employers will allow him I have a few because they're all sort of part-time little jobs if you're a big RAB I have a big synagogue you get well paid but other times it's not that well paid to most other rabbis will do a bit of teaching or whatever uh I mean people say to me oh Rabbi I shouldn't be schleffing and shouldn't be removing and it's beneath you and all that sort of thing and I respond to them with a person should hire himself out to a work that is foreign to him rather than rely on handouts on people we are moving foodstuffs you've got chicken and we've got wine and grape juice and oil it's given to members of the Jewish Community who can't afford to buy all these things themselves so it's a wonderful charitable gesture this is called Gamache the lady who runs this gives out tables chairs benches to anybody in the community who's making a wedding the bar mitzvah abras silver it was a tremendous good job in the community we are more or less having a wedding that will resemble a gamak wedding what you might call a No Frills wedding so you have a wonderful meal and a wonderful dancing and a wonderful photographer and stuff like that for a reasonably cheap price for those who can afford it there's no limit to what you can spend on the perfect wedding Jewish wedding fairs always attract the curious how come your flip your opposite don't eat them do you [Music] can't just think of all Jews in which we have big Jewish weddings we have lots of people that come here that don't have the wealth to spend money on these extravagants I'm here on behalf of my fiance who's instructed me to come and have a look out if there's anything that we might use to spruce up our wedding a bit most of these things are a bit out of my Grandeur league and pay league so uh I think I'm just about ready to go no we're both stood under the hopper I'm getting out of here then before to get to ideas I'll have my eyes firmly fixed on Erica ah so cute that husband said that about me 25 years ago I think I don't think it has to only fixed for me now actually yeah this is what my fiance would like as a cake Bergen mind I propose to Edinburgh Castle 13 times of the year we can't get married so the cram them all in together Ilana come here come here hello I think a lot ready for the wedding today oh gorgeous so gorgeous and that would be you've done a miracle there beautiful [Music] it's Sunday morning in Paris and all the shops are closed except for here this is the Marie the Jewish quarter Joel is looking to find some Kosher cuisine it's Sunday morning you can smell the fresh babels you can smell the smoked salmon you don't get any pork chops around here it's all kosher chocolate puts weight on with the smell there's calories in that smell things are changing around here everybody wants to be here and the main reason is there is Sunday trading one of the few areas in Paris it is quite strange because I'm actually a seven day week man but I suppose they they recognize their Sundays here [Music] as fashion shops we place the kosher cafes but behind the scenes you can still find places that offer a glimpse of the old Jewish community so all these chandeliers and memorials Albert Abram 1907. I love chandeliers and to walk into a place like this I'm amazed [Music] was I more religious when I was younger I think I was Passover we had to change all the pots and pans and I was always puzzled while we always saved the best stuff for like eight days of the year but that's what we had to do oh I've not lost it I left bet gimmel dallad no we don't change the pots and pans now too much like hard work [Music] Paris has Sunday trading Jewish Manchester has Sunday League football it's the semi-finals of the Tony Cohen Memorial Cup we won this competition three years ago and we've been finalists in two other occasions so I've been three times it's a bit weird for me because I'm not going to be there for the final this is going to be I think his last proper competitive game before he gets married and possibly moves to America so uh you know he's a bit nervous for it obviously good thing about Debbie is when he's 10 nil down which is frequently he always motivates his team always know today that's because your rap battles trying to motivate people you know [Music] I started playing football when I was 11. and I couldn't get into teams I started my own team age 12. the worst guy I've lost when I was a junior was I've lost 45. [Music] a local synagogue wins three goals to one [Applause] we're in the Cup Final bit Bittersweet for me because I can't play next I'll be in America okay brilliant guys come on when Jack Eisenberg was a teenager sport was the last thing on his mind in the winter of 1944 he was on the last transport of 5 000 Jews to buchenwald concentration camp 2 000 people in habara three layers like shelves you couldn't complain to everybody there was nobody to turn to you take it or leave it somewhere here I had my photographs from home little bundle and it was taken away in one of these blocks but you know I had a little brothers nine little pitch you know his crime he was nine years old his crime was he was a Jew innocent how beautiful a lovely boy a little boyish milk bokenwald wasn't an extermination camp but the conditions were so bad that 56 000 died from hunger and disease Jack was placed in Barrack 62 in the little Camp here the conditions were even worse with a population of over ten thousand it became a place of starvation filth and desperate struggles to survive in the 62 Barrack is every morning people died during the night in the morning he had a squad with the wheelbarrow and took them to this Crematory the flame was running 24 hours a day the stench of parent flesh is that is that Humanity honestly [Music] it's only after the war that I've been here to the crematorium [Music] it'll take a long time for the human race to be forgiven I was here when I was a young boy I know you'll never forget that you saw a Survivor I know that [Music] you must not forget that [Music] it always budget me why why would the Jews did to deserve it no human being [Music] it's the big weekend for Rabbi zevi Saunders his father has come to meet his American fiancee Erica and her family for their strictly kosher wedding welcome to Sunny Manchester it doesn't feel very warm out I'm getting hits Jewish law forbid zevi from seeing Erica until their wedding on Sunday so he'll be spending the Sabbath in Southport home to a dwindling Jewish population we are now at Southport Shore where I am the rabbi of it's part time because of course there are no Kosher shops here in Southport of course we obviously brought all our stuff for Shabbos otherwise we'll starve this is the Southport synagogue very beautiful show for you unfortunately we get an average of about 18 men on the Shabbos morning and about 10 women as you see this is a big great Acoustics and therefore even if I do shout it's not too bad on people [Music] when I was in college in Yeshiva a small little room very small and they banned me because I was too loud show me your muscles there you go and then you put it just twelve-year-old Sam Jaffe is preparing for his permitster learning how to put on to fill in prayer boxes and now you are wearing to fill in he's the only boy in six years another time the future looks bleak for the Southport Jewish Community nothing new for communities to be vibrant for 30 40 50 years and then to diminish and people move elsewhere the synagogue are having our service at seven o'clock we can come in Manchester is growing but don't forget Jews are nomadic we are famous for it we are the wandering jew well we're treading the cobbles in Paris again after A Hard Day's buying in Paris Joel treats his staff to a kosher night out the menu is the same all over the world you've got to filter fish chopped and fried fish herrings stuffed cabbage um they make shake or soup the last time I had these my grandma made them we're going about 20 odd years it's like a ravioli and it's got meat inside very very nice delicious I don't know very much about my family history I think my dad once told me my grandma on his side came from America and she came over here with her mother and there was half a dozen children I'm not quite sure I don't eat anything else I only eat breasts I'm a breast Mouse you have no breasts [Music] okay [Music] Sunday morning in Manchester and the preparations are well in hand for zevie and Erica's wedding it's a fairy tale occasion topped with a surprise wedding cake because I propose in a castle this is a surprise he doesn't know okay I've got for her resembles a castle uh if it rains this is going to get rather wet never mind what can we do this is the katuba the Jewish wedding document which basically says that I have undertaken to feed and to clothe including all her medical costs and certain undertakings if we get divorce which I could be burned it's not too cool but I do remember is he said I want to honor you and cherish you and love you and because we are Orthodox Jews the only way I can do that is by marrying you [Music] must have been he addressed me and he got down on one knee and he said siona Sarah Corman Robin she's like my full Hebrew name will you marry me and he you know had a ring and everything he's very cute colors she was not raised strictly kosher but I see how it works for her and it works beautifully and that's what makes her happy [Music] [Applause] really in America the day of the wedding of a bride until they actually get married but here's Evan Eric I haven't seen each other since December it's not just the bride that wears white zevi's coat is called a Kittle and it signifies Purity it also doubles as a burial shroud the britishness is a little different but the jewishness is all the same the only thing women here are more aware of these big fancy hats but that's more a British thing than anything we're going to the wedding [Music] veterans are a major part of our religion if a girl meets a boy before you know it there's an engagement and within 12 14 weeks that wedding is done you mustn't cry it's a happy day we don't cry she's coming from outside and now we're waiting for Zeb before I drew in the house and to come and put the veil over her to check she's the right girl this veiling tradition recalls the biblical story of Jacob who married the wrong woman hiding her face behind a veil Debbie and Erica are married beneath a canopy known as a hopper it symbolizes the home they will share if your child is marrying a Jewish girl then you know that your grandchildren and their children are going to continue to be Jewish if there isn't a Jewish wedding then there's no continuity it's the happiest day of your life it's probably the happiest days of your parents's life very very holy happy day happiest day of your life zevi breaks from tradition and lays on a surprise thanking God for his bride with a spirited rendition of Psalm 30. America [Music] [Applause] is Erica and Debbie have fasted all day and have never so much has touched each other now they're alone together for the first time in their lives [Music] [Applause] thank you we've had a two-hour break and now we're into the dinner and we're dancing in the music completely separate women on one side remember that no women together and Men together mix at all [Music] you go to a Jewish wedding you'll see a lot of people being very happy dancing literally bouncing off the walls foreign but when we talk about being happy we talk about being happy on religious letters so yes we separate the men from the women so the men can dance without worrying about impressing the women and the women can dance without worrying about impressing the men [Music] the women watch the men by the way put them in don't watch the women no join us to dance and express our joy for this bride and groom welcome thank you and the higher [Music] the latest people have Honeymooners from when they get married they have chefs for a week which is seven days of whining and dining and having parties in someone's house or in a restaurant and they're not allowed to touch each other thank you I haven't had any official sex education I had a few marital lessons where we learn about the laws that pertain to marriage the extra special laws and things like that suppose they want me to learn on the job and then it may be babies again it's always babies Debbie and Erica's wedding represents a Jewish continuity that is very real although it seems a meeting of different worlds they share a common Bond both have grandparents that are Holocaust Survivors well my grandfather had nine of his brothers and sisters that he's never seen since it is real for my family too [Music] [Applause] even in Paris Joel comes face to face with Jewish history in the showa museum you're taught in education what went on during the wars but it does upset me and I'd block things like that from my mind you know especially when it's to do with children and persecution and and I try not to think about it do you know it didn't matter how religious you were um no you were born Jewish you were the enemy [Music] polish Jews suffered worst of all of the three and a half million population 90 perished Jack Eisenberg survived buchenwald concentration camp only to be sent to a Munitions Factory in kolitz his luck ran out in April 1945 when he was one of 600 people who were Force marched to the Jewish ghetto of tourettes in a hundred miles to the east hidden large we shuffled no food nothing we did them about seven miles a day if you couldn't walk March you were shot and we start looking for food and I find the story Happy on the floor dried out and I am really elated I found food after two weeks on his death march Jack and a handful of survivors arrived in Tourette's how many stars at the Germany 600 and arrived 60. that's the story I knew I'm dying because I had no more strengths left to fight or even to dream a hundred and fifty five thousand men women and children pass through the Tourette's in ghetto many died of disease and starvation all were sent to extermination camps seventy years on Jack visits a haunting reminder of their Devotion to their faith prayer room was painted by a German Jew died at Auschwitz [Music] screams honestly I'm really living something I missed how much happier person believe me or not Jack was into red Sin for barely two weeks when Germany surrendered his nightmare was over I heard the Russian tanks and I'm liberated gosh I've got to live the suffering gets finished the worthlessness is gone I want to live that's right the Festival of Purim commemorates the Deliverance of the Jewish people from destruction in the ancient Persian Empire the story is read in public from the Magilla throughout the day of course I've come down here to hear the Michaela to hear the Magilla and eat and as we say as us Jews say to Fresh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] even though we do drink on other occasions but there's lots of drinks for this one foreign who are less fortunate [Applause] the Manchester Jewish Community is my life they are fabulous fabulous Community we work together we stick together and it's your home it's where you've been brought up [Music] I walk in the street hibernate walk here hibernate know that one I'm in town hello hello how are you my dad go up here I go up here I love when they talk about my family but loads and loads and loads and loads of wonderful friends even the dressing up has a religious significant the idea of fancy dress is to hide our real selves God is always there he is hidden he is masked so it's not the idea of fancy dress it's the idea of masking our own identities welcome to my Abode purim's a fun Festival because the kids get a chance to dress up it's one time that Jewish people are allowed to get drunk not that they don't anyway but um it's it's a fantastic Festival it might look like all we do is drink drink drink and eat eat at each Festival we're eating different food we had a fast day before Paul yeah we couldn't eat for faster 12 hours after the joy of Purim Michael and Burnett have something else to celebrate never knew a thing on everything everyone's asking me what's happening to saw rising to getting engaged to this gorgeous killer and I kept saying oh it'll come it'll come it'll come it'll come out and all of a sudden in the morning I get a text from my bedroom to his bedroom come in my room now guess what I'm engaged when the right one comes that's what you do you get married and what we say if a bichetta comes which is a fate one that comes and that's a boy or girl that gets married but I'm going to lose some weight because I'm gonna I need to get some weight off because I'm not going to look nice as a mother of the bridegroom I do make nice food don't you think [Music] it's Dawn at Manchester Airport zebby and Erica's wedding celebrations continued for six days now they're flying to America and starting Life as a strictly Orthodox married couple I'm going to New York for a bit while my wife is off the two Master degrees the synagogue have kept my job open for me so I can always come back you know be we'll miss them but uh obviously uh very pleased for them so the only person who can see her uncovered hair is other women or myself I hope to become a very rich man do become a father of lots of children a very good husband a very big Rabbi I have lots of pupils and eventually to come back with the Messiah to Jerusalem whenever that may be so those are my hopes and aspirations in no particular order and to top it all zebby's football team went on to win the Tony Cohen Cup Final in his absence as one goes away another returns Jack Eisenberg is coming home to Manchester in 1945 Against All Odds he survived the Holocaust he was flown to Britain with 300 other War orphans in the Bombay of an RAF bomber his remarkable moment of Liberation was even captured on film in the fellow from the crew says don't press that button because this is the bombing Hutch it won't be bombs it will be you [Music] jack came to Britain penniless he went on to build a successful luggage business in Manchester Japan stands for Jack myself I am pinky and D.A dated this whole Holocaust Survivors all three God was good to me good to my wife go to my grandchildren I've got no argument with God the Holocaust had robbed Jack of his family and his faith he'd never had a bar mitzvah as a boy because he was living under Nazi occupation in Poland surviving the war I'm not religious anymore what counts to me or without your respect it's not religion so much goodness of a person must be by the way that's being religious that's the whole of Judaism after waiting for a lifetime Jack is going to have his bar mitzvah at 85 years old foreign foreign [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] it's an adventure they stole it from the swords they got away they didn't and what holds the Jews a little bit together is also the history The Sovereign [Music] foreign [Music] and welcome to the celebration of Jacksonville it's a late then never chat I'm quite proud to be a Jew because we have a certainly where you're living and we are very close to the family we quite decent that's what I'm proud of [Applause] [Music]

Channel: True Lives

Views: 147,776

Keywords: our life, documentary, world documentary, documentary channel, award winning, life stories, best documentaries, daily life, real world, point of view, story, full documentary, documentaries, real life, Jewish, Jew, Jews, Jewish Community, Life of a Jew, Strictly Kosher, Kosher, jewish religion, jewish, jewish community, jews, jew, Orthodox Jew, orthodox jewish, orthodox judaism, Belzec, Manchester, Manchester jews, Belzec extermination camp, belzec

Id: wOtPXntr7dQ

Length: 136min 50sec (8210 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 06 2023